What is Medical Terminology?

Different professions have different "languages". An example
of this is auto maintenance: automobile mechanics use terms to describe the
objects and situations they encounter while working, such as "master cylinder"
and "oil filter". Comparatively, medical workers use terms to describe the objects
and situations encountered in their fields, such as "hepatitis" and "intravenous".
The words - or terms - which make up the language of medicine are referred to
as the terminology of the medical field, or Medical Terminology.

Like every other language, medical terminology has changed over
time. The basis for medical terminology; however, remains the same. The majority
of medical terms are based in Latin or Greek. One such medical term is herpes,
which is an inflammatory disease affecting the skin. Herpes is based on the
word herpo, which is Greek for "creep along". Workers in the medical field chose
"herpo"--or herpes--to describe the skin condition because it seems to "creep
along" the skin.

(Note: some of the above links do not work all the time..
IF the links are not in operation, just move on to the next question in your
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Medical terminology also includes words that consist either
entirely or partly of personal names, such as Adam's apple and Strumpell-Marie
disease. The term Adam's apple came from the belief that biblical Adam was
not able to completely swallow the fruit of the forbidden tree, and so it
became lodged in his throat, visible to all (Adam's
Apple - scroll down
on this site / Kid's Health Adam's
Apple) . In 1884,
Ernest Strumpell became the first person to completely described the condition
now known as ankylosing spondylitis, and so the condition Strumpell-Marie
disease was named after him [go
to ankylosing spondylitis page].